In a few weeks, Thor: The Dark World hits theaters and I am extremely excited so I wanted to show my case for why you should care. After The Avengers basically introduced Thor to the world (as Thor was not nearly as successful), this followup has a lot to deliver.

I was actually pretty underwhelmed by Thor, ranking it one of my least favorite Marvel films so far. My major complaint was that it was mostly CGI, especially the locations. It was hard to imagine Asgard as a real place, when it was so fake and plastic looking. The villains (the frost giants) were also relatively fake, so any battle scenes lacked the visceral punch that live stunts can provide.

But things are different with Thor: The Dark World.

Let me tell you why.

Director Alan Taylor has taken the helm and with that, a huge amount of credibility built up from television shows, most notably Game of Thrones, LOST, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Carnivale, and The West Wing. In recent interviews, he said his work on Game of Thrones was most applicable, as Marvel wanted this sequel to have a much real feel, similar to what’s been created for Westeros in the Game of Thrones world. And based on the previews, they’ve done some amazing work and Asgard does truly look real.

Another improvement is that the battle scenes are using real stunt people, made to look like a race of ancient dark elves, led by the villain Malekith.

Malekith is played by none other than Doctor #9 himself, Christopher Eccleston. Malekith is the leader of the dark elves of a world called Svartalfheim. In the comics, he sought the same weapon used in the original Thor, the Casket of Ancient Winters, which could cover an entire planet in ice. I’m not sure if they’re going to follow this route in the film.

Malekith uses his strongest minion to battle Thor, a dark elf named Algrim, played by LOST‘s Mr. Eko, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

In the source material, Malekith attempts to sacrifice both of them by dropping them into a lava pit, willing to lose Algrim if it also kills Thor. The God of Thunder survives though, as does Algrim, though Algrim has been transformed into a hideous beast who only wants vengeance on Thor, who he blames for the tragedy. He goes by the name Kurse after this tragedy.

And below, a shot of Kurse from Thor: The Dark World.

You would think that this would be enough villains, but of course there’s Loki. You should care about Thor: The Dark World because Tom Hiddleston is returning as the villain that attacked New York in The Avengers. He is manipulative and deceiving and so when the trailer reveals that Thor approaches Loki for help defeating Malekith, you know things aren’t going to work out.

There’s talk of creating a spinoff film specifically for Loki, but I don’t know if his fandom alone is enough to carry a feature film.

With all this action, it looks like Taylor is going to smartly weave in a heavy dose of emotion, too. If the trailers (and this image below) is any indication, things are going to get pretty intense for our hero.

And if you’re a fan of Marvel films, you’ll likely be curious about what nods we’re going to get to other franchises. Word on the street is that we’re getting two after-credit scenes, one during and one after they’re all completed (similar to The Avengers). We’ve got Captain America: Winter Soldier coming out next winter, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy next summer, so it’ll likely be a nod to either of them. Benicio Del Toro is playing a prominent role in Guardians of the Galaxy but he’s appearing in an uncredited role in Thor: The Dark World, so it could be an after-credits scene tying him to the next film.

It’s also guessed that we’ll get a trailer for one (or both) of these films before Thor: The Dark World, so you might get a treat before and after the movie.

So…

There’s a lot to look forward to. Incredible battles with live actors and new additions to the cast that will only improve it. Bookmark this site to get a review for Thor: The Dark World on opening day, November 8th.